Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi are likely to start their election campaign in West Bengal only after the polling is over in Kerala on April 6.
According to media reports quoting party insiders they have adopted this strategy because in Kerala the Congress-led United Democratic Front is taking on the Left Democratic Front while in West Bengal they are contesting in alliance with each other.
So Rahul, who is campaigning extensively against the LDF in Kerala, deems it inappropriate to start electioneering in West Bengal till April 6. By then three out of eight phases of polling will be over in West Bengal.
Rahul and Priyanka are fully concentrating on neighbouring Assam, where the Congress-led 10-party Mahajot is giving tough fight to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Led National Democratic Alliance.
It was only on March 20 that Rahul released the party’s manifesto in Guwahati, in which among other things, he declared the party’ opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act and promised the hike in daily wage to tea garden workers up to Rs 365.
According to independent political analysts in West Bengal, the central leadership does not see any prospect, that is why it is not putting all its energies there. The party is in the fray just because of the compulsion of the state unit and the issue of survival.
At the same time, it appears that that the West Bengal unit of the party and the central leadership do not agree on several issues, especially over the stand towards the Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee.
While the state party president Adheer Ranjan Chaudhary questioned the injuries caused to Mamata on March 10 last the central leadership remained silent.
Not only that several Congress leaders like Renuka Chaudhary openly sympathised with Mamata. That may not have happened without the green signal from the Central leadership, which at the same time did not want to embarrass Adheer, who had jumped the gun immediately after Mamata received injuries.
It needs to be mentioned that Rahul is likely to campaign in West Bengal only on those seats where the Congress candidates are in fray and not for the Left Font nominees.
